Freelance Saga: Learning Curves (4 page)

“What? Are you serious? These things are only
supposed to require a small amount of experience!” The information
he had learned, claimed that the power level of a summoned pet
would be based on the amount of experience required. Most required
one hundred experience points or less, but four levels worth of
experience, was many times that amount for him at present. Four
levels… what kind of monster would this thing summon?

“Yes, go ahead.” They were only levels after
all. He could gain them back. He might not have a chance to get a
strong pet again for a while.

He could feel the strength rapidly drain from
his body. His attributes dropped by four points each. He felt
weaker, less substantial. It would have been hard for him to
describe it beyond that. At least he was still at a low-level. The
cost was not that high.

When the experience drain stopped, the scale
began to glow. Soft, whimsical music began to play in the
background. It shifted then transformed into a small spherical
crystal with a strange runic design floating in the center.

Scott reached out and took the little marble.
“What’s this?”

He used his identification skill and
discovered that it was a monster capture sphere that was designed
specifically for dragon type monsters. “Wait, it’s empty? I just
used up four levels for an empty ball!”

He was all set to start a tirade about the
idiocy of such a system but a new message screen popped up. After
reading through it he understood what had happened.

Scott raised the sphere then nodded. “I guess
I know what my beginning class will be, then.”

The spheres could only be activated by
monster trainers. They were people who specialized in capturing and
training pet class monsters. He would have preferred a more direct
combat oriented class, but it was not like this one would prevent
him from developing those skills. If anything, bonding with
monsters would increase his stats.

“You know, it’s kind of weird, though. It was
like this tutorial was set up to herd me toward this class. Ah
well, I’m getting paid to be here and it’s fun anyway.”

Scott went back to the cabin and chose to
take the monster capturing course. After following the arrow to an
open field outside the forested area he was greeted to the site of
a large number of dragon-turtles. A new message screen popped up.
“I see. If I defeat enough monsters of a similar race a boss
monster might appear. It might not always happen in the actual
world, but here it will work without fail.”

He stopped talking to himself for a moment
then felt mildly embarrassed. Speaking his thoughts aloud was a
nervous habit. Scott had spent a lot of his time alone in one way
or another. During his tenure in the army he was stuck on staff
duty frequently. He’d often be the only one awake since the
lieutenant and the other soldier on duty would often find a way to
take a nap. Honestly, even when other people were around he had
felt alone most of his life.

Talking to himself was a way to vent his
frustrations and work out ideas. Some people had thought he was not
quite right in the head, but he liked to hear his thoughts spoken
aloud.

The world was too real, though. He did not
mind hunting or fishing for food, but killing random wild animals
for fun and profit disturbed him. Scott knew on an intellectual
level that he would have to get over that sentiment. This was only
a game right?

Dragon-turtles were slow monsters. They did
not seem very aggressive either. This was good for Scott since he
was unarmed and wore no armor. He did not want to risk damaging the
few weapons that he had acquired since they were all fairly close
to breaking.

He heard a hiss to his left. Scott turned
quickly and saw a dragon-turtle that had somehow snuck up on him.
He needed to pay attention.

The turtle monster lunged at him, but it was
even slower than the one he had fought before. He missed his first
opportunity to flip it onto its back, but the next time it attacked
he succeeded in knocking it down. These turtles were not very
strong opponents at this point.

Scott picked up the handful of coins that it
dropped and stuck them into his inventory. There was no piece of
shell to retrieve this time.

Slowly, he moved beyond his indecisive and
passive nature and began to lure turtles toward him one or two at a
time. His timing was not perfect. Sometimes a lunging monster would
manage to tag him on the shoulder, or they would only jump a short
distance and lash out with their tails. Scott learned to move out
of the way during short jumping attack sequences. The tails hurt
quite a bit despite their small size. It was like being whipped
with a leather belt.

Several hours passed and he gained two levels
in the process. After a rest period he went back to work. He lost
track of the number of dragon-turtles he had defeated, but it
didn’t matter. He would only be able to force a boss monster to
spawn if he killed enough of them.

He still did not know how that worked. Where
did they spawn from? Were they created from thin air? He knew they
respawned after being defeated, but the mechanics of it escaped
him.

Scott defeated one more turtle then started
to collect his loot. A bright light suddenly erupted a few feet
from his location then coalesced into a surprisingly human
form.

He stared openly at the new arrival. She was
stunning! She had glossy red hair, bright green eyes, and a body
that could not have been the product of nature. Scott could not
believe what he saw. No woman could look that perfectly fit and yet
have curves like that!

She looked at him then smirked. “Seriously?
You’re the idiot who’s got these little guys in a snit?”

“They’re in a snit?”

“Well, yeah. You keep killing them and
forcing them to respawn! How would you like it if they went to a
human area and killed your people willy-nilly?”

Scott felt sick to his stomach. He knew it
was a game, but this was ridiculous. How could he allow himself to
act like that!

She stretched then twisted her head back and
forth. “So, the way I see it… either you’re just an asshole, or you
had a reason to do this.”

He didn’t trust his voice so he just took out
the sphere he had earned earlier and showed it to her. Her eyes
widened and her demeanor changed instantly.

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so! You wanted to
fight me, huh?”

He shuddered at how casually she said that.
Why would he want to fight with a girl, any girl?

She laughed then ran her hands seductively
down the length of her body. “It’s understandable. I’m a good
catch, don’t you think?”

Scott blushed then nodded slowly. What was he
supposed to say right now! Why had he become a complete idiot in
front of this random beautiful girl?

The girl tapped her chin lightly then
grinned. “You know, you’re the first human who didn’t just rush
toward me like a perverted idiot. It’s almost too bad that I have
to brutally murder you now.”

He immediately tried to find a better way to
deal with this situation! He did not want to fight her if he did
not have to, especially since he had a strong feeling that she
would beat his ass.

After a brief few seconds of performing
mental gymnastics the only thing that came to mind was the food he
had stuck in his inventory on one of his trips back to the cabin.
“Wouldn’t you rather have a nice picnic?”

“Picnic…?” She looked at him in
confusion.

Scott pulled out a basket of fruit, some
bread, and a large chunk of ham. “Sure.”

The girl shook her head then her cheeks
tinged pink. “Don’t try to fool me into that. It’s a sweet gesture,
but I refuse to take food from a human I don’t know.”

Scott tore off a piece of ham and started to
chew on it. “But… it’s so good.”

“It is?” A hint of drool began to escape her
lips. Was she hungry for real, or did she just like to eat? He did
not know, but this was a good sign.

Dragon-turtles began to make whining noises.
She looked down at them then sighed. “You’re right. He did pick on
you. Even if he’s being nice to me, he was an asshole to the rest
of you.”

“Do they want something to eat? I have apples
and bananas?”

She asked the turtles and they began to drool
too. He had never seen a turtle actually drool before. Was that
even possible? This was beyond bizarre.

Scott began taking out all the food he had
packed. The cabin always restocked with food whenever he went
outside and returned so he had stocked plenty of it in his
inventory.

By the time he was done, there were at least
twenty turtles and one absurdly attractive girl sitting in a
semi-circle around Scott. “I’m sorry that I was being such an ass
to you and your friends.”

The girl swallowed a large piece of ham then
smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Fighting is something monsters do
all the time. They were just mad that they couldn’t beat you.”

“I’m glad that they aren’t mad. It feels
weird for me to just attack random creatures, especially cool
looking ones.”

She grinned at him. The turtles looked at him
and flashed toothy smiles. Apparently they understood human speech
just fine. Food and flattery had won them over quite easily. Scott
looked at the jagged, carnivorous, smiles of the turtles then
grinned back.

The girl spoke up. “My name is Scarlet. I’m
the queen of these whiny turtles. Did you really want to capture
me?”

“I’m not sure how to explain my purpose. I’m
foreign to these lands and was just following instructions that I
was given.”

“Instructions given by whom?”

Scott called up a menu screen and showed it
to her. She blinked. “Oh, you’re an outlander!”

“Outlander?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, people who
come from another world. They are picked to come here for various
reasons.”

“People here know about this?”

“Of course. Most people just think of your
kind as foreigners wandering the land.”

“What do you think?”

Scarlet smiled. “I don’t know, yet. I’ve only
met a few foreigners and they were all perverted assholes that
wanted to have sex with me. As if! That’s reserved only for someone
who I can trust.”

“Yeah, I hear you. You’re incredibly pretty,
but come on guys. Have some tact.”

Her cheeks tinged pink again. “You think I’m
pretty?”

“Incredibly pretty, yes.”

She looked down at the ground then sighed.
“You’re so nice. You’ve fed us, and apologized even though you
didn’t have to.”

“You seem like a nice bunch. I didn’t
actually want to hurt anyone; it’s just that I keep getting told
that I need to do things. For instance, I was supposed to fight and
defeat the turtles here until a boss monster appeared.”

“Yeah, that’s how it works. Prove your
strength against her people and the queen will appear so that she
can kick your ass.”

“Well, you certainly look like you can kick
some ass.”

She giggled at him then shook her head
rapidly. The pink tinge on her cheeks turned bright red. “Yeah, I’m
strong. I’m a dragon after all.”

“Yeah, that’s what I find odd about this.
Growing up I always had a fascination for dragons. They were mostly
mythological back home, but they were cool.”

“Really? You like dragons? Most humans hate
us!” She leaned forward and looked at him excitedly.

“Why would they hate you?”

She sighed. “Humans hate monsters in general,
but dragons are very strong. We’re highly intelligent and only get
stronger in time. A lot of the older dragon monsters will take up
residence somewhere and demand tribute from humans and other
monsters alike.”

“Do they protect the area from outside
aggression?”

“Usually, yes.”

Scott smiled. “Well, depending on what the
dragon demands, wouldn’t that be a good arrangement?”

“You think so?” She looked at him
curiously.

He nodded. “If the dragon isn’t being too
demanding, they are essentially just offering their services to
everyone living in the region. Sure, they might demand to be seen
as the lord of the area or something, but if they provide stability
and a place for all people to grow and become stronger then why
hate them?”

The dragon-turtles looked at him strangely.
Their eyes began to shimmer and then to Scott’s astonishment they
began to cry. “What…?”

Scarlet stared at him open mouthed for a
moment then took a deep breath. “Wow, you really think so?”

“Sure. Essentially it’s no different than
someone taking charge and defending a territory. It keeps out
foreign invaders and allows people to build a better life. It might
piss people off at first, but if the one ruling the area is a good
ruler and largely leaves people alone it does more good than
harm.”

The dragon-girl looked away. She began to
chew on her lower lip a little and gripped a hunk of her hair.
While she did this, the turtles gathered round their queen and
simply looked at her.

Finally, she looked at Scott again and said.
“Why did you want to capture me?”

“Like I said, I was instructed to capture a
boss monster. Ultimately, I suppose this means that I am meant to
become a monster trainer. I’m still learning about this world.”

Scarlet sighed then sucked in her lower lip
again. The turtles nodded at her then she looked back to Scott.
“What would you do if you did capture me?”

“I’m not sure. Fight, train, and get
stronger. Maybe conquer the world. I really don’t know.”

“You… want to capture me so you can conquer
the world?” She girl began to breathe heavily, her chest heaving up
and down.

“Sure, why not? At the least, maybe someday
I’ll start my own fortress city or something. I really don’t know
what this world has to offer.” It was all just a game, so why not,
right?